NY Times: Canadian Town, Isolated After Losing Rail Link, ‘Feels Held Hostage’

As the New York Times reports:

“It’s an example of how ill-prepared we are to address climate change and these extreme events,” David Barber, the Canada research chair in Arctic system science at the University of Manitoba, said of the storms and floods, which climate scientists say fit predictions of more extreme weather as the Earth’s climate warms. “We can expect more of this — one-in-100-year flood events….”

Since 1976, scientists have come to the Churchill Northern Studies Centre to study topics like thawing permafrost and the slow expansion of heat-tolerant larch trees into the area. Construction on a second [University of Manitoba] science center, where researchers planned to study the effect of oil spills on sea ice, began this spring — until the train stopped running. The center’s very premise was the dramatic effect of climate change on Hudson Bay.